The invention relates to an electrical connector including a housing that holds an array of contacts which are formed as a contact insert, and in particular, to a structure for holding a contact insert accurately in position in a connector housing.
An electrical connector housing that holds a number of contacts may have the contacts pre-assembled in the form of a contact insert, or subassembly, that can be installed into the housing as a unit. In a prior art electrical connector as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a connector housing 10 holds upper contact inserts 12 and lower contact inserts 22. Each of the contact inserts 12, 22 comprises an array of contacts 13, 23 having portions which are surrounded by a dielectric molding 14, 24, respectively, such that the contacts 13, 23 in each array are held in fixed relative positions. The contacts 13, 23 include mating portions 15, 25 that are engagable with contacts of a mating electrical connector (not shown), and board-mounting portions in the form of solder tails 16, 26 that are arranged for insertion into through-holes in a circuit board (not shown). Pairs of upper and lower contact inserts 12, 22 are installed into the housing 10 through an open rear of the housing, with the molding 14 of the upper contact insert being positioned behind the molding 24 of the lower contact insert. The moldings 14, 24 have rails 17, 27 that are received in channels 28 in the housing 10. Each pair of upper and lower contact inserts 12, 22 is secured in the housing by a molded latch arm 18 of the housing which has a latch tab 19 that engages in a pocket 20 at the rear of the molding 14 of the upper contact insert 12. A problem arises in that dimensional tolerances on the parts permit the contact inserts 12, 22 to have some free play in the connector housing 10, thereby resulting in a positional variation of the solder tails 16, 26 with respect to the connector housing 10. If the positional variation of the solder tails 16, 26 is too great, assembly operations will not be able to insert the solder tails into their respective through-holes in the circuit board. There is a need for a device that will hold the contact inserts accurately in position relative to the connector housing.
It is an object of the invention to secure a contact insert in a connector housing.
It is another object of the invention to eliminate free play between a contact insert and a connector housing.
It is yet another object of the invention to accurately position contact solder tails relative to a connector housing.
The invention is an electrical connector comprising a dielectric housing and a contact insert carried by the housing, the contact insert including contacts carried by a molding, and a lock member that cooperates with the housing to secure the contact insert in the housing and to bias the molding against a wall of the housing.
According to one embodiment, the lock member has a head that is secured to the housing, and a tail that is arranged to urge the molding toward the head. The head is interference fitted in a stall in the housing, and the stall is open through a board-mounting face of the housing.
According to another embodiment, the lock member is wedged between the molding and a portion of the housing. The lock member has a main portion, and nose portions that project from the main portion, and the nose portions engage the molding.
According to another embodiment, the lock member includes a protrusion of the molding that is interference fitted in an aperture in the housing.